It’s been so exciting planning the Special Day! You had a beautiful wedding, the guest celebrated with you, the cake was eaten, the limo whisk you off for the beginning of a relaxing honeymoon, but wait…what about your credit!
After the honeymoon the real fun begins-starting your life together. From a financial standpoint, that involves exciting stuff like buying a home and trading in your sports car for a minivan (okay, maybe not everyone thinks minivans are exciting).
Your FICO scores are a big part of many of your financial decisions now that you are a couple. Here are a few important facts regarding your FICO scores.
- You both have individual FICO scores. You do not have a joint score.
- When applying for a loan and stating both incomes, the lender will only look at your individual scores when evaluating your loan application.
- Joint accounts, such as credit cards or auto loans will affect both of your scores
When applying for a home loan lenders look at the three FICO scores from Experian, Equifax and TransUnion and your middle score is the score that your approval is based on.
Let’s say that Bob and Sue are married.
- Bob has poor credit and Sue has good credit.
- Bob makes more money than Sue.
- Sue’s income qualifies for a 100K home and Bob’s income qualifies for 300K home, but they want to purchase a home for 375K.
- Bob would not qualify for a loan because of his low scores.
- Sue’s credit would qualify her for any home providing that her income is sufficient, but all that she can purchase is a 100K home.
- Sue can NOT use his just his credit and just her scores.
- Bob can not use just her credit and just his income.
So what can Bob and Sue do so that they can purchase the home of their dreams?
Call reScore Solutions! We can evaluate Bob’s credit reports at no charge and identify the accounts, collections and overall credit to be repaired, deleted or paid. We can save you money using our techniques in getting your credit scores lender-ready.
Watch video by clicking link below and see how Bob get’s started on getting his credit back on track.
Marriage and credit score myths.
- Our credit reports will merge together when we get married. NO
- Marriage will lower my credit scores. NO
- When I change my last name my credit history will be erased or deleted. NO
- My spouses poor credit will hurt my credit scores. NO
- I will automatically become a joint user or authorized user of my spouse’s accounts. NO
- You will be responsible for your spouse’s previous debt. NO
- Being unemployed while raising children will damage my credit score. NO
- Having a good job improves my credit score.
- My spouse filed Bankruptcy and now my credit will be ruined too. NO
- Since we are married, any loans or accounts that we get must be a joint account. NO
- Whew!! I don’t have to worry about my spouse’s credit. NO. This will affect you when you want to purchase a home or other large purchase that both incomes will be needed to qualify. If you are a co-signor on any accounts or loans with your spouse, you are equally responsible for those obligations as your significant other. Any mishaps, such as a missed payment, will reflect poorly on both of your credit reports.
So while you were reading the credit score myths, Bob’s credit was repaired and his credit scores are improved.
Being that Bob’s credit is repaired they can now buy the home that they need. Bob and Sue are now happy and recommend reScore Solutions to their friends and lived happily ever after.
